Rig Election
at Expense of Your Life-
Buhari .
The Nigeria number one citizen,
President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday
threatened that anyone planning to snatch
ballot boxes in this coming
Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly
election will surely do so at
the ‘’expense of his own life,’’ he ordered the
Nigeria security agents to be
ruthless with any miscreants.
The president said this at the
opening of the National Caucus meeting of
the All Progressives Congress (APC)
in Abuja, promising those who may want to foment trouble during the presidential election rescheduled for this weekend.
He said:
“The security agencies have identified hot spots and flash points and should be
prepared to move. We have made as much arrangement as possible for them as much
as the country can afford. Anybody who decide to snatch ballot boxes or lead
thugs to disturb the process, may be that will be the last unlawful action you
will take.
‘’We have
directed the military and other security agents to be ruthless. We are not
going to be blamed that we want to rig elections.”
Reacting
to the president’s tough talk, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said it
amounted to threat to the lives of Nigerians and a direct call for jungle
justice, contending that it was an attempt to divert public attention from the
national caucus’ closed session where details of its
“dastardly plot to
truncate the nation’s democratic process will be perfected.”
Buhari said
there was no reason or justification for the postponement of the presidential election last Saturday
by INEC, He vowing to investigate the issue after the general election.
The
president’s threat was preceded by a long speech by the National Chairman of
the APC, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, who said the party would be pushing for an
inquisition over what led to the sudden decision by INEC to postpone the poll.
Buhari said
with the support enjoyed during the campaign trip round the country from Nigerians,
he was not afraid of defeat at the election.
“I want
Nigerians to be respected and let them vote whoever they want across the
parties. I am not afraid of that. I went round the 36 states and the FCT and I
think I have enough support across the country. So, I want to warn anybody who
thinks he has enough influence in his locality to lead a body of thugs to
snatch ballot boxes or disturb the voting system, he will do it at the expense
of his own life,”.
The
president described INEC as ‘’incompetent’’ for failing to meet the
expectations of Nigerians last Saturday, adding that the electoral commission
had all the time and all the resources it wanted and didn’t have to wait for
only six hours to cancel the election.
He vowed to
seek the reason for such incompetence, adding that the leadership of the
commission would have to explain to the nation after the election.
He stated:
“After the elections, we have to know exactly what happened and who is
responsible. Otherwise, our efforts to make sure that this system is acceptable
would have been eroded. The constitution and the law protected INEC. But they
must not take us for granted.
“If for
example, the National Assembly refused to approve what they wanted; INEC would
have had moral reasons for why they couldn’t perform. If the time of four years
of election was not constitutionally obeyed by the government, INEC would have
a case.
“But we
don’t understand the reason for this inefficiency and we have to go into details
after the elections to find out who is responsible.”
He said: “I
shall put my hand on the Holy Qur’an that the electoral body shared information
with the PDP that they were going to postpone the election.’’
“The caucus
urged all APC members to immediately commence campaigns in line with the
Provisions of Section 99 (1) of the Electoral Act, which states clearly that
campaigns shall stop 24 hours to the elections. Our party would therefore abide
by the provisions of laws,”
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